Sports reporter at The Canberra Times

No booze ban: The Canberra Raiders are confident they can rein in Blake Ferguson and want him back on the field. Photo: Getty Images

The Canberra Raiders won't ban Blake Ferguson from drinking and are pushing to have the axed NSW Origin star reinstated for next Saturday's match against St George Illawarra.

Raiders chief executive Don Furner said a no-alcohol edict wasn't the answer and that the 23-year-old would benefit from the time spent with living with his cousin, world champion boxer Anthony Mundine.

''Effectively all I can say is we can control him in our environment, but you can never control 100 per cent what people do,'' Furner said. ''You can't ban people from things, they have to work on them themselves.

''He really is a good bloke and it's been good for him to be around Anthony Mundine. He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't swear and he's very polite.''

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The Raiders had a submission rejected by the NRL on Tuesday to have Ferguson allowed back this week after he pleaded not guilty on the same day to charges of indecent assault of a woman.

''That was disappointing,'' Furner said. ''We had a robust discussion with them and it didn't go our way, and we're going to work really hard with the NRL early next week to get him right for St George.

''There are some specialists that are reviewing the counselling work that he's done, the cultural work he's done with indigenous community in Sydney and the program the NRL has set out. My understanding is they will … assess the reports probably on Monday.''

Ferguson was handed a four-week suspension and hasn't been allowed to train with the Raiders' first-grade squad since the incident. In contrast, Manly winger David Williams hasn't been sanctioned by the NRL, despite being charged by police for affray and offensive behaviour.

Furner said he supported the NRL's hardline stance towards off-field behaviour, providing it set a precedent for future incidents. ''If this is the new process that's fine, hopefully it's the same for everybody,'' Furner said. ''I hope they are consistent because Blake's had a fair price to pay.''

If Ferguson does get the green light to return next week, that will set up a clash with former teammate and Origin drinking mate Josh Dugan.

Dugan was sacked by the Raiders at the start of this season but has made the most of a lifeline with the Dragons.

Huawei director of corporate public affairs Jeremy Mitchell said the Chinese telecommunications giant had no hesitation extending its sponsorship with the Raiders for next year despite the off-field issues.

''We have full confidence in the way the board has handled that, management has handled that,'' Mitchell said.''It's one of the reasons we wanted to continue to work with them because we're very much supportive of how they handled those situations.''

1 comment so far

Ferguson is a serial offender....the NRL need to make a statement about this bloke......